Weather Watch 2/13

For those who do not like snow and cold, this January was a real treat. For those who enjoy Winter sports, however, or whose livelihood depends on significant snowfall, this was a very disappointing Jan. Not only was there very little snowfall, but a warm, heavy rain washed away 60% of what snow we did have.

The average high temperature was 28.3 degrees and the average low was 14.1 degrees, giving us an average temperature of 21.2 degrees - 2.9 degrees above normal. The warmest temperature of 48 degrees was recorded on Jan 25 and the coldest of -9 degrees was recorded on Jan. 30. There were only three days with below zero readings compared to an average of seven. All three of those days were the last three days of the month.

Melted precipitation was below normal with only 2.39 inches being recorded - 0.7 inches below normal. There was measurable precipitation on only nine days with the greatest amount of 1.88 inches falling on Jan. 25. This heavy rain combined with the 48 degree temperature reading caused the snow to melt very fast. This caused the ice in the upper Hudson River to release on the morning of the Jan. 26, passing through Riparius about 7 a.m. There was no jamming here as it moved steadily down river for about two hours until it piled up below the bridge at the Glen.

Snowfall was also much below normal with only 7.3 inches being measured - 12.4 inches below normal. This was the fifth lowest amount in the last 30 years. The lowest amount of snow measured was three inches in 1992 and the largest amount was 43.4 inches in 1987. The last low snowfall year was in 2004 when only 6.2 inches fell. The largest daily snowfall this month was only 2.6 inches, which fell on Jan. 18.

The river reached its highest level of 6.66 inches on Jan. 27 and its lowest level of 3.05 inches on Jan. 13.